Published: September 06, 2008 02:03 am            

Northwest can't shake mistakes

HIRAM — Northwest Whitfield showcased a punishing ground game, a run-stopping defense and — for the second straight week — some of the big-play capability of senior quarterback Dean Haynes during a Region 7-4A crossover game at Hiram on Friday.

But in the end, due to a combination of the Bruins’ mistakes and the Hornets’ big-play capability, all of those good things became a moot point.

Set up by a Northwest fumble on its own 7-yard line, Hiram’s Marcus Middlebrooks scampered 5 yards two plays later for a go-ahead touchdown with 9:44 left in the fourth quarter that would stand up in a 21-14 Hiram victory at the Hornets Nest.

The turnover — Northwest’s Jordan Darnell had recovered after muffing a punt and seemed headed for a good return after a second effort before fumbling — was the Bruins’ second, following another fumble by Haynes early in the second quarter that set up Hiram’s first touchdown of the night.

In addition to some sharp individual efforts, Northwest’s defense held the Hornets to 64 rushing yards. But the mistakes loomed larger for the Bruins following their first loss of the season.

“No. 1, you’ve got to give (Hiram) credit for taking advantage of those things,” Bruins coach Mike Falleur said. “But, I mean, that’s kind of the whole story right there, isn’t it?”

Hiram had attacked with big plays in the first half to secure a 14-14 tie at halftime, but the Hornets needed just the short drive to regain control of the game after a scoreless third quarter.

But while the Bruins made the mistakes, it was the Hornets who capitalized, much to the pleasure of third-year coach Andy Dorsey, whose squad is 2-0 for the first time since 2003.

“I’m real proud of it, because in our scrimmage game and first game, we were the ones turning the ball over,” Dorsey said of the Hornets, whose victory was followed with some bad news as Middlebrooks, who suffered a broken leg while playing defense in the fourth quarter, was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

“Our scrimmage game we put it on the ground a lot, we worked on it, and our first game we still put it on the ground a lot. So for us to be on the other side of it was kind of nice for a change.”

Northwest — which got a 94-yard performance from junior running back Chito Chibuye and 184 combined yards passing and rushing from Haynes — had two possessions after Hiram scored in the fourth, but the second ended on the Hiram 19 with 19.7 seconds to play when Haynes’ pass fell incomplete.

The crossover game was the first long road trip for a Northwest team trying to make up for the loss of a standout senior class, and the turnovers — as well as seven penalties for 50 yards — showed some room for growth.

“We’ve got to grow up,” Falleur said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys that are playing that I don’t think fully understand this is Friday night – you’ve got to get yourself ready for it, on the way to game, before the game, as well as during the week.

“It’s not get ready during the week and forget about what you’re doing on the ride down here. We’ve got some guys who need to grow up and this is part of growing up.”

The Bruins made themselves at home on the game’s opening drive, methodically moving downfield behind a steady surge through the middle by Chibuye, who carried seven times on the 14-play series that ended with a 2-yard run up the gut by Smith, who slipped a tackle to score the touchdown with 4:28 remaining in the period.

Although that drive was slow and steady, eating 7:22 off the Northwest was held to just six points when a high snap forced holder Chad Keeter to simply recover the loose ball.

Hiram suffered similar problems after scoring its first touchdown, an 8-yard run by Charlie Sashington with 7:29 to play in the second quarter, with a bad snap forcing holder Jared McClain to scramble before being tackled.

Hiram needed just four plays for the score, with the drive fused by a 27-yard pass from Mario Rolland to Kody Wood that put the Hornets on the Bruins 33 on the second play of the possession.

Northwest regained the lead with 1:56 to play in the second quarter on a 1-yard run by Haynes, who ran for the two-point conversion to make it 14-6, but Hiram struck back right away.

Rolland hooked up with Wood for a 51-yard pass on the next drive’s first play and Wood finished it off three plays later on a 9-yard reverse around the left end and into the end zone with 18 seconds left in the first half.

Rolland passed to Javon Simon for the two-point conversion, sending the game to halftime with the score 14-14.

        

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